Craft Skill Limitations

[Vold]

Thank you all so much for the huge amount of feedback!

In regards to our plans to raise the crafting skill limits during the next version update, we thought it’d be the perfect time to implement, alongside the auction house merge and Synergy-augmented content. We felt it would serve as a countermeasure to the low amount of active crafters and the low number of items up on the auction houses in the three nations. However, as a result of discussions based on all of your feedback we have opted to postpone this. To get a better idea of the community’s opinion and also to further our discussions we would like to explain a bit about our future plans for synthesis and synergy, and give you plenty of time to discuss and provide feedback.

For the past couple of updates we placed a heavy emphasis on level cap increases, Abyssea, and other new battle related content. For the version updates in 2011, along with the level cap increase and battle related additions and adjustments, we are planning a significant amount of adjustments to synthesis and synergy as well.

Future plans
Based on our desire to reevaluate how players obtain items, as well as adding attractive item recipes, we plan on changing our focus from shifting synthesis to synergy. We’re also planning on strengthening the specialties of each (Synthesis and Synergy) as well as creating their own special uses and objectives. Along with this we will also be looking into raising the crafting skill limitations.

Our ultimate goal is to add numerous items so that you can select what you wear depending on the situation and slot. This is similar to when the level cap was 75 and you have Relic, Salvage, Einherjar, and Limbus-related gear to utilize.

• Premise

• Expansion of new items and recipes similar to the abjuration equipment system
• Fixing of locations to obtain general purpose materials (Shop and loot expansion)
• Improvements to synergy, fishing, chocobo digging, harvesting, mining, gathering systems

• Synthesis in Perspective

• Possible to create attractive, one of a kind items
• Benefits of HQ synths are reflected largely by an increase in stats
• Possible to create base items through synthesis
• Possibility of losing materials as a result of failure

• Synergy in Perspective

• Possible to mass produce items and create EX items
• Benefits of HQ are strongly demonstrated through mass production recipes
• System to add stats via augment synergy
• No loss of materials upon failure (Fewell and cost are separate)

There were some concerns about the addition of items that can only be made by having multiple skills leveled to 100, but rest assured that we have no plans of introducing recipes of this difficulty.

The above content is not finalized and is a plan that we would like to try and apply in the future. Since this is a pretty large change to our approach, in order to create an even better direction for this, please let us know your thoughts.

We will continue to bring you updates on our plans as we receive your feedback and continue to make gradual changes as we solidify our plan.

Glad to hear you are postponing this. I thought you were kind of rushing it. Anyway, the above details all appear very sound to me. I will take this time and drop a little idea on you guys, however... it's something I enjoyed from a different game that I feel would greatly benefit this game, though I'm sure it would require a lot of work to achieve. Basically you expand on the idea of augments. I would like to see augments created by crafters that can be sold. How you apply that augment to gear can be done by whatever means you see fit, but the important part here is creating a new market for crafters. For example:

A goldsmith can craft goldsmithing augments. There are multiple augments to choose from. An augment for each of the stats. An augment for HP. An augment for MP. An augment for resist. So on. An augment HP can look like this: Neck, Ear, Ring, Waist slot - HP + 10. An STR aug would look like this: Neck, Ear, Ring, Waist - STR + 1.

A good way to spread the augment love around is for each craft to have it's own augments for it's own synthesis items. So, for example, you would require woodworking augments to augment a Jupiter's staff. Taking that to the next step of augmenting end game gear, you use clothcraft augment to augment a Morri Robe as it would logically be a clothcraft synthesis item. If you want to keep augments really simple, just go with one or two crafts to synthesis them, whatever makes sense. Unfortunately that would probably mean goldsmithing or smithing. You could limit the work output by going with just a few slots that can be augmented, or go all out and go for most slots. Another idea is for there to be HQ augments. I'll stop there but you get the general idea. I think it is something worth exploring and possibly worth the effort at some point. As for the means of augmenting gear with these augments, you could use Synergy as the method of augmenting the gear since you are already down that road.

Basically, it's your idea of augmenting end game gear but with the crafters in control. The lone downside to this idea though, is that because FFXI isn't the typical MMORPG with tiers of end game content where gear is constantly outdated, an augment system may not be very realistic. But a good way to counter that is for augments to actually be more rare than not. Perhaps requiring rare materials. Goldsmithing can use a new ore that can only be mined... woodworking would require a new log to log for, so on. Anyways, something to think on for the future.